IDIOMS for ESL Students: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

Breath life into

To breathe life into something is to energize or activate a particular object or endeavor. ('Breathe new life' is also used.)

“The sculptor breathe life into his artwork.”

Break the ice

To break the ice is to say or do something to get over initial embarrassment or shyness when meeting someone for the first time.

”Talking about the weather is a safe way to break the ice.”

Break every rule in the book

A person who exhibits unacceptable behavior is said to break every rule in the book.

“Your son thinks you broke every rule in the book when you abandoned him in the orphanage.”

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Break a leg

Use this expression to wish someone good luck.

“I know you have a job interview tomorrow, so break a leg!”

Bread and butter

Bread and butter refers to means of support or livelihood.

“Writing is my bread and butter. What’s yours?”

Foreword

An idiom (id-ee-uhm) is an expression composed of a word or a combination of words which, when taken together as a single unit, has a meaning that is different from the standard definition of the individual words. It has a fixed grammatical structure and a specialized or figurative meaning that develop from common usage by a particular people in a particular region, culture or era. Although idioms take root and flourish in a local setting, many of them acquire universal use and gain international acceptance.

When taken literally, idioms convey an idea that is very different from their specialized meaning. For example, the expression a tough cookie conjures an image that it totally different from its figurative meaning, which is a strong and self-confident person who doesn’t yield easily to pressure. Some idioms, when taken literally, are reduced to a heap of words that don’t seem to make sense. Examples of this are the expressions all ears, a square peg in a round hole, train of thought, and many more. For this reason, idioms cannot be directly translated to although they may have figurative equivalent in other languages.

Native speakers take them for granted and use them in their spoken and written communication at home, in the workplace, or in the community, but students learning English as a second or foreign language find idioms difficult to comprehend. This is understandable because an ESL or EFL student analyzing an idiom for the first time would try to deduce its meaning from the literal definition of its parts. Expectedly, this method will give him the literal translation but not its figurative meaning. If he stops with the literal translation the process will result only in confusion. But with proper tutorial he should discover its figurative meaning and, with constant use, successfully complete the assimilation process.

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